THE CONVERSION OF OUR TRUST

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 26, 2025 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: March 26, 2025 from Philippians 3:4-11

Theme: True conversion means forsaking one’s trust in the flesh and placing it all instead in the Person of Christ.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

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This morning’s passage is about a conversion story. It’s without doubt the most famous and beloved conversion story of them all, because it’s the conversion story of the apostle Paul.

Most of us are already familiar with that story—how he had lived zealously in the Judaism religion, how he persecuted those who followed Jesus, how the resurrected Lord Jesus met him on the road to Damascus, how he was struck blind, how a man named Ananias prayed for him and his sight was restored, how he was then baptized in faith in Jesus, and how he then went forth to preach the very gospel of Jesus that he had formerly opposed.

But that’s what we might call ‘the outsider’s view’ of the story. As we come to our passage in Philippians 3, we find what might be called ‘the insider’s view’—the side of the story in which we discover the very heart of Paul with respect to his conversion. And amazingly, what we discover is that he didn’t merely convert from one religious system (Judaism)—with all the religious duties and requirements that characterize religion—to another (Christianity). Instead, Paul’s conversion was fundamentally a conversion of trust from the work of one person (himself) to another (Christ).

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To fully appreciate this ‘insider’s view’ of Paul’s conversion, we need to begin where we left off in our last study. In Philippians 3:1-3 Paul wrote;

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh … (Philippians 3:1-3).

Paul’s main concern in these words was the protection of the joy of his beloved brothers and sisters in the church in Philippi. He urged them to make sure that they rejoiced “in the Lord”—that is, that they didn’t let anyone turn them away from a simple trust in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross. There were some who were trying to persuade them to trust in the outward works of the Old Testament law—particularly symbolized in ‘circumcision’. Paul knew that turning to legalism would result in a loss of godly joy. So he urged them to remember that they were the ‘true circumcision’—not outwardly through the flesh, but inwardly through the Spirit. They were to rejoice in Jesus’ work for them and to “have no confidence in the flesh”.

The “flesh”, in this case, is a figure of speech that Paul used for all efforts to earn God’s favor by righteous works done in the power of one’s own ability through rituals and ceremonies and through conformity to the rules and regulations of religion’. And those were the things Paul once trusted in. He tells us about it in this morning’s passage in Philippians 3:4-11 …

. . . though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead (vv. 4-11).

This, then, is the ‘insider’s-view’ of the story of Paul’s ‘outward’ conversion. And can you see that it wasn’t simply a conversion from “Judaism” to “Christianity”? To merely change his efforts in the flesh from one religious system to another wouldn’t truly be a conversion before God. Instead, Paul’s conversion was a complete conversion of trust—one in which he entirely ceased trusting in the work of one person (himself) for righteousness before God, and exclusively trusted instead in the work of another Person (Jesus Christ) for that righteousness. In fact, Paul was so completely converted that he shunned anything else that he formerly trusted in, so that he could experience the joy of trusting in the wonderful Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As Paul’s personal testimony shows us, true conversion means forsaking one’s trust in the flesh and placing it all instead in the Person of Christ. Such a conversion leads to everlasting joy.

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Now; we can easily divide Paul’s testimony up into three main parts. In verses 4-6, he shows us where he once placed his trust. In verses 7-9, he shows us how he experienced a conversion in terms of where he placed his trust. And verses 10-11, he shows us Who it was that he now trusted—and the joy that he experienced as a result.

So; let’s first consider …

1. WHERE HE ONCE PLACED HIS TRUST (vv. 4-6).

He told his Philippian brothers and sisters that he and they were those who “have no confidence in the flesh”. But then, he quickly adds in verse four; “though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so …” (v. 4).

Paul was showing that if anyone actually could “have confidence in the flesh” in order to earn righteousness before a holy God, then no one could have had more reason for such confidence than himself. In any contest of who had the best potential of earning righteousness through the power of the flesh, he would have consistently won first prize.

First, he said that he was “circumcised the eighth day”. He mentions this one first, because it was what the Judaizers who were troubling the Philippians were making such a big fuss about. They wanted the Gentile believers to become identified with that all-important symbol of the Jewish religion. And yet, he already was what the Judaizers were demanding that everyone else become—circumcised. That’s one point for Paul.

Then he said that he was “of the stock” or “lineage” of Israel—a true member of God’s chosen people. Some of the folks who were demanding that other people obey the rules of Judaism were themselves converts from the Gentile world. But not Paul. He didn’t have to convert in that way; because he was already born of the Jewish nation. That’s two points.

What’s more, Paul even knew which of the twelve tribes of Israel he was from. He was “of the tribe of Benjamin”—an honorable tribe in Israel. That was the tribe of King Saul—which may be why Paul’s original name was Saul. When all of the other ten tribes broke away from King Solomon’s son Rehoboam, only the tribe of Benjamin remained true to the house of David along with the tribe of Judah; and that’s the tribe that Paul belonged to. That’s three points.

He went on to affirm that he was “a Hebrew of the Hebrews”. That meant that there was not a drip of Gentile blood in Paul’s veins. He was a Jewish man through and through—able to trace his ancestry all the way back from Benjamin, from Benjamin to Jacob, from Jacob to Isaac, and from Isaac to Father Abraham—without any interruption in his Jewish lineage. That’s four points to his favor over most of the Judaizers; and so far, he hadn’t even had to boast in anything he actually did. These things were all true of him from the time he was an infant.

But then he went on to speak of his remarkable religious achievements. He said that “concerning the law,” he was a “Pharisee”. In fact, we’re told in Acts 23:6 that he was “a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee”. Jesus once used the Pharisees as one of the highest examples of righteous faithfulness in the flesh when He said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20); and Paul once said of himself, “I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14). That’s five points on his side of the scoreboard.

Then—although we could suppose that he mentioned it with regret—he said, “concerning zeal, persecuting the church”. Elsewhere he testified,

“Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities” (Acts 26:9-11);

Which was something that he felt great shame over later in life. But he mentions it here to show that no one could have had more zeal for one’s religious commitments than he did. That’s six points.

Finally, “concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless”. In other words, when it came to the strict outward conformity to the Mosaic law, no human being could have found a fault in him. We should say “outward conformity” only because inwardly, he was still a sinner who was not righteous before a holy God. But in comparison to other people, his conformity to the law would have been flawless. That’s seven points—a perfect number!

Now; when it came to the religious works of the flesh, Paul had an amazing record. No one could stop him. And yet, he met the resurrected Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus; and afterward, he forsook all that he had formerly trusted. As so, as we read on, we see …

2. HOW HE WAS CONVERTED IN HIS TRUST (vv. 7-8).

He wrote, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ” (v. 7). It was as if he formerly had those things in the “gain” side of the ledger; and had now moved them over to the “loss” side. Just like sailors in troubled seas might cast valuable cargo off a ship—preferring the value of life to the value of the cargo—Paul cast away all the things he used to boast in for the greater value of knowing Christ. In fact, he uses even stronger language than that. He wrote, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ …” (v. 8). He used a word in the original language that spoke of disgusting garbage and food scraps that are only fit to be thrown out to the dogs. Some scholars, however, believe it should be translated as it is in the old King James Version (a word that isn’t very ‘flowery’ … but one that certainly describes something that helps flowers grow). In either case, the point is the same. In the light of the excellence of the knowledge of a wonderful Person named Jesus Christ, the converted man Paul now counted all of those things that he used to trust in as something repulsive to himself. And he rejects them as such in order that he may “gain” Christ.

And there’s an important spiritual principle involved in this. The two different kinds of ‘trust’ for righteousness before God—either trust in Christ’s work for us, or trust in our own works—have an expulsive power over one another. They both can’t exist together. One trust must drive out the other. Paul put it very strongly once to some errant Christians were beginning to place their trust in their own religious works according to the Old Testament law—most clearly symbolized by circumcision:

Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:2-4).

So; if anyone hoped to put their trust in their own religious works for righteousness before God, then their works would have had to exceed those of Saul of Tarsus—which would have been impossible. And he now considered all his religious works to be “rubbish” in order that he might gain Christ.

And so, let’s look now at what he had to say concerning . . .

3. WHO IT WAS THAT HE NOW TRUSTED (vv. 9-11).

He said that he gave it all up that he may gain the Person of Jesus Christ; “… and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith …” (v. 9). What wonderful words those are! They are expressing the essence of Paul’s great burden in his preaching—the message that he traveled around the world to declare—the great doctrine of justification by faith. Paul would no longer dare to be found by God clothed in a righteousness of his own making through the works of the law. Instead, he trusted in the righteousness that is given as the free gift of God to those who place their faith in His Son Jesus Christ—”the righteousness which is from God by faith”.

Verse nine speaks of Paul’s justification in Christ. But verse 10 goes on to speak of his present, ongoing experience of enjoying the glorious benefits of a living relationship of love with Jesus. First, he said that he had rejected all those other things he used to trust in, and trusts in a righteousness by faith in Christ alone, “… that I may know Him …” To “know” Jesus in this way isn’t speaking of mere head knowledge about Him, but rather of a deep, personal, experiential relationship of dependent love with Him. Paul also spoke of knowing “the power of His resurrection …” To know Christ is to experience the power and the impact of His resurrection in our own lives every day. He also spoke of “being conformed to His death …” For Paul, this would mean daily dying to self, taking up our cross, and following Jesus in paths of suffering in this world. Forsaking his own works led Paul to great suffering in his life for the cause of the gospel.

But just as verse 9 spoke of Paul’s justification in Christ, and verse 10 spoke of his ongoing walk in Christ, verse 11 goes on to speak of his future outlook in Christ. He said that he was willing to be conformed to Jesus’ suffering, “… if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” He uses an unusual word—one that’s only used here in the New Testament. It’s a word that can best be translated as “out-resurrection,” and it means that, in being conformed to our Lord’s death, he would strive to live out the life of someone who had been raised from the dead and who anticipates being forever glorified with the resurrected One. He went on to explain what he meant in verses 12-14;

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (vv. 12-14).

In other words, he no longer sought to live in obedience to God’s standards as a way of earning God’s favor, but rather because he was already in God’s favor by faith in Christ. He had ceased to trust in his own efforts and converted to a full trust in the sacrifice of Jesus alone.

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And so; as we learn from the ‘insider’s-view’ of Paul’s conversion story, true conversion isn’t simply a change from one religion to another. It’s a complete change in our trust for righteousness from one person to another. We truly ‘convert’ when we enter by faith into a saving relationship with a wonderful Person named Jesus Christ—a relationship in which we forsake all our own efforts and rest instead in the work of Jesus for us—a relationship in which we walk in love with our Savior and Lord who is also our dearest Friend—a relationship that grows deeper every day—a relationship in which He strengthens us and supports us in all our trials—a relationship in which we completely depend on Him to share all of His divine resources with us—a relationship in which the more of Him we get to know, the more like Him we grow to be—a relationship that will lead to our being with Him eternally and sharing forever in His glory.

No amount of religious ‘good works’ through the flesh could ever give us that! And giving up all else and trusting in Christ alone where true, everlasting joy is found. May we thus truly “rejoice in the Lord”!

AE